August 19, 2008

The Omkareshwara Temple in Madikeri

“Joy, we need to reach the temple before sundown,” I shouted over the din as the bus groaned up an incline in Madikeri. “Hopefully we will. There’s still time,” Joy said, looking at his watch, then at the fading light outside the window. The bus slowed down to let honking traffic pass. We had rushed back from Abbey Falls and had hoped to make it to the Omkareshwara temple before the light dropped for the day.

It was a busy evening in Madikeri, the capital of Kodagu (also known as Coorg), a district of Karnataka State. Of the crowd we passed on our way to the Omkareshwara temple most were young and motorbikes were their preferred mode of transport. “Raja’s Seat is the only entertainment in the evenings around here,” Joy told me as the bus slowed down to pass groups of youths and families making their way to Raja’s Seat to watch musical fountains seemingly spout coloured water to loud rhythmic music. Raja’s Seat was to be our last stop for the day after Omkareshwara before heading back for the night to the Club Mahindra facility in Galibeedu, the tour sponsors. Abbey Falls was crowded. It was there that Joy gave us a short lesson in coffee beans as we walked back to the bus, pausing every now and then to look at coffee beans growing on either side of the cemented path. As the bus pulled away I looked forward to the quiet of the temple.

At 1,170 metres above sea level it’s inevitable that Madikeri’s inhabitants will have made their homes along the rising gradient of hilly terrain. In the distance Madikeri gives the appearance of a terraced farm of roofs. And it was these undulating roads that bore our bus to the Omkareshwara temple just as sunlight began to drop behind the hills. It didn’t help that we had descended by a fair bit to get to the temple, and in the distance electric lights had begun to flicker up in the hills that ringed the temple. As dusk loomed fading light turned patches of vegetation in the hills to a deep shade of green.

As we made to get off the bus at a bifurcation in the road where a certain Timmiah had his house the driver backed up the slope to make a turn so he could park the bus and wait out our return. As he struggled to negotiate the turn in the narrow road horns sounded behind him. He braked. And the horns fell silent. Inch by inch, helped by Manju, his teenaged assistant, directing him from the outside he began to maneuver the bus into position, grumbling all along. He had a long day at the wheel, first Bhagamandala, then Talacauvery before returning to the base at Galibeedu for lunch, and followed by Abbey Falls, and now Omkareshwara. There was an edge to his voice as he barked at Manju, his eye outside the bus. Traffic began to bunch up behind him; drivers patiently waiting for the bus to hold its position just long enough so they could pass it.

By then we were hurrying down a mud path that led past the pond fronting the temple before walking in a single file along a parapet that overlooked the pond where two small boats lay anchored together. I cannot remember the colours for there was no Sun to bounce off them. The late evening cast the environs in an ethereal tinge of blue in the still waters, dispensing the calm of an open sky that December day last year.

Two beggars on either side of the entrance stood in silence, hands outstretched. In the lengthening greys they seemed as much a part of the surroundings as the temple.

We took off our footwear outside the entrance to the temple before walking through the main door. For the benefit of devotees visiting the temple pooja timings in Kannada and English painted in white on a metal sheet were nailed to the wooden door that opened into a courtyard of sorts, circling the temple in the middle.

On entering the door a room on a raised platform displayed a board in Kannada and English. It was the office of the Parpathigar.

A middle-aged man in a woolen sweater sat at a wooden table, pen in hand. A yellow bulb hung overhead. On the wall behind him a calendar depicting Goddess Lakshmi seated in a lotus flower hung beside a Ajanta Quartz wall clock donated by Pandian Enterprises based out of Madikeri. The wall calendar was gifted by Vinayaka Enterprises, advertised as ‘Exclusive ACC Cement Dealers’. However the portion at the bottom where month-wise calendar leaves are stapled was empty, indicating the calendar was an old one, now retained for the picture of the deity worshipped in India as the Goddess of wealth and prosperity.

A tiny scrap of paper stuck at the staple where month-wise calendar leaves are ripped off at the end of the month to display the next one showed the calendar as having been issued in this century. The last digit indicating the year was missing. All over the empty space someone had noted scraps of information in blue pen, possibly contact numbers, addresses and the like. Until this information remained relevant and was not transferred to a notepad or a diary it served as another reason to keep the calendar on the wall. With a little over three weeks to go for the year the calendar would possibly make way for a new one, issued by any of the many privately run enterprises that abound in Madikeri, and advertised prominently on the calendar, and ensured visibility for the entire year. In households across India calendars of deities later transform into framed pictures that find their way into prayer rooms where they’re worshipped through year after year.

For a Parpathigar I thought the office with the lone man at the desk writing under a yellow bulb was nondescript to say the least but then the Parpathigars no longer figure as prominently now as they once did during the reign of the Kings when they performed important tasks in the administration of justice, civil as well as criminal. The Mysore State Gazetteer records the Administration of Justice in the erstwhile State of Coorg thus: ‘On the Criminal side, Gauda of a village was authorized to reprimand and admonish the offenders for minor offenses. The Parpathigars had powers to confine offenders for ten days. All other offenders deserving higher punishment were sent to Subedar who had power to confine offenders for 30 days.’ After Coorg surrendered to the British in 1834, the ‘Parpathigars or Naik Subedars were invested with powers (as defined by the Coorg Courts Act, Act XXV of 1861) to try suits of money or immovable property of the value not exceeding Rs. 50/-'.

Apparently Parpathigars also functioned as Civil Administrators when they were not a part of the Administration of Justice. Writing about her father’s uncle who once functioned as a Parpathigar at the Omkareshwara temple, Deepa Bhasthi, a blogger from Madikeri, is reminded of an incident involving her grand-uncle when she, her mother and the maid resolve to move an old grinding stone from her front-yard to the garden three years ago. After many years of use having inflicted wear and tear upon the grinding stone it eventually came to serve as a seating place in her front-yard where Deepa “spent many an evening there reading and getting bitten by mosquitos.” Reminded of how it came into her possession, Deepa writes, “One of my ancestors was a very good administrator, the Parpathigar, at the Omkareshwara temple that I have written about. The king was once very pleased with his work and asked what he wanted as a reward.”

Apparently he asked for very little. To this day it must rankle Deepa for she writes, “(Her grand-uncle was) so content with his life that all he asked for (from the king) was a cot to sleep on and a grinding stone to help in the kitchen! Can you believe the absurdity? I mean, there was so much he could have asked for!”

The erstwhile reward now rests in her redesigned garden, among terracotta horses, and shells.

Bells peal as devotees who’ve come in before us walk across the courtyard to the temple and climb the steps to where bells hang at the entrance, ringing them before paying obeisance to Lord Shiva. We follow behind, walking through the short, arched passage before pausing where it opens into the temple courtyard. Images of Garuda and Hanuman grace opposite sides of the wall where the passage arches overhead before depositing us under the sky. I take a picture of Garuda. I’ve been intrigued by Garuda since the time I was a child.

Kodagu (also known as Coorg) changed hands several times in its history. The earliest recorded history of Kodagu from the 9th and the 10th Centuries speaks of the Changalavas governing the East and a part of the North of Kodagu in addition to the Hunsur taluka in Mysore as a feudatory for the Gangas of Talakkadu who, after two centuries in power, eventually met their match in the Cholas in the 11th Century. The Cholas then ceded power to the Hoysalas in the 12th Century who survived early challenges to their supremacy mounted by the Changalavas when they held out for independence after the fall of the Cholas but before long the Hoysalas subdued them in 1174 AD, turning them into vassals. The Hoysalas rule came to an end with their defeat by the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th Century and the Changalavas then subordinated to the mighty empire. However, the Vijayanagara Empire was not to last. Betrayed by two Muslim commanders, the Gilani brothers, at the battle of Talikot in 1565, the Vijayanagara Empire went into decline with its defeat at the hands of the Muslim rulers of the five Deccan Sultanates of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, and Bidar who joined hands against the Vijayanagara Empire. The victorious Islamic Deccan Sultanates then laid waste to the glorious empire the remains of whose resplendent architecture can still be glimpsed at Hampi, an inner suburb of the Empire, architecture that had little or no parallel in the world then and possibly now. Hampi is now a World Heritage Site.

Mysore was soon to descend into a state of flux after the battle of Talikot. Srirangapatna was a viceroyalty in the Vijayanagara Empire, overseeing the vassal states of Talakad and Mysore, the latter ruled by the Wodeyars. Though the Vijayanagara Empire weakened considerably after the battle of Talikot in 1565, it still retained a hold over Srirangapatna via the Viceroy, Rangaraya, but its days were numbered in the face of an emboldened vassal state of Mysore. In 1610 the Raja (King) of Mysore dethroned the Vijayanagara Viceroy of Srirangapatna and moved his capital from Mysore to Srirangapatna. Eventually he would turn his attention to the Changalava hold over Kodagu, starting with Piriyapatna (Periapatam), the capital of the Changalava kings that Piriya Raja built in 1589 and named after himself. Facing imminent defeat at the hands of the Raja of Mysore, the last of the Changalava kings, Vira Raja, put his wives and children to death before himself falling in the defence of his capital Piriyapatna in 1644.

With the Changalava dynasty having come to an end, Kodagu now lay open to conquest by Mysore. It didn’t happen because the Raja of Mysore was occupied with fighting off enemies elsewhere, so it was left to a prince of the Ikkri or the Bednur family, said to be related to the Changalavas, to take the reins of Kodagu (Coorg), and a steady succession of his descendants ensured his dynasty remained the Rajas of Kodagu until the year 1834 when the British deposed them. Long before then, in 1681 the capital was moved to Madikeri from Piriyapatna (needs to be confirmed) by Muddu Raja. Before it came to be known as Madikeri it was known as Muddurajakeri.

The dynasty probably suffered as much from internal strife as from Tipu Sultan until his death at the hands of the British in 1799.

It was in 1820, 14 years before the Coorg rulers were deposed by the British that the then king, Linga Raja, built the Omkareshwar temple at Madikeri. In my travels across the country I’ve been intrigued by the origins of temples, more so those dedicated to Lord Shiva. And it was from the temple priest that I learnt of the reason behind the construction of the Omkareshwar temple.

The elder of the two priests spoke softly in the dialect of Dakshin Kannada. It’s been years since I last actively conversed in the dialect, the tone and style having escaped my ears in the time since then. So when the elderly priest, Shivram Bhat, spoke I had difficulty picking up certain expressions. Other times I strained to pick his voice in the backdrop of devotional songs ringing through the temple.

“The king, Linga Raja, killed a brahmin,” he said.

“Why did he kill the brahmin,” I asked, alarmed at the turn the story of the origin of the Omkareshwar temple was now taking.

“He desired a brahmin girl (apparently as a daughter-in-law though some accounts suggest he wanted to marry her). However her father, a poor brahmin man, refused to give his daughter away in marriage, and Linga Raja, infuriated at the refusal had the innocent brahmin man tortured and killed at this very spot.”

The brahmin priest paused. Outside, the shadows had lengthened. Bells pealed near where the three of us stood, away from the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum.

I watch devotees run their hand over the arathi (lamp) and bring it to their eyes in acceptance of the light blessed by the almighty. Then they drop coins as offerings in a plate holding the lighted lamp. A few dip their finger in the small container of kumkum (red vermillion) and apply it to their forehead between the brows, at the spot considered to be home to wisdom.

“Then?” I prompt the priest.

“On killing a brahmin he acquired the brahma hatya dosha and began to get nightmares, falling off his throne and the like. It was relentless. Then he was advised to seek redemption by building this temple,” he completed. It is believed that the soul of a murdered brahmin will take the form of a ‘Brahmarakshasa’ and torment the murderer until he seeks redemption.

The Shivalinga now worshipped in the temple has its origins in Kashi. Among the many Shivalingas in Kashi five are considered the most sacred, and Omkareshwara is one of them. Praying to Omkareshwara is thus believed to rid the sinner of the tormenting ‘Brahmarakshasa’. Linga Raja (also known as Lingarajendra) installed the Shivalinga from Kashi in the temple where we now stood, seeking redemption for his sin. Linga Raja was known for the terror he inflicted on his citizens.

Looking around I’m struck by the absence of a mandapa or the pillared hall common to temple architecture in India for, it is in the pillared hall (mandapa) that devotees congregate for prayers. The entrance to the doorway that leads to the garbha-griha or the sanctum sanctorum where the deity resides is reached through the pillared hall. Typically a circumambulation passage encloses the garbha-griha, the devotees using it to circle the garbha-griha as they pray, symbolically circling the universe and indicating the soul has no beginning nor an end. However the mandapa is consipicuous by its absence here, and the entrance to the doorway is instead reached through a verandah-shaped enclosure running along the sides.

“What are those images,” I ask the priest, pointing to the walls making up the outer precinct of the temple, enclosing a courtyard, also known as a prakaram. A yellow bulb hangs over a window and two images flank it. I cannot make them out clearly from where I stand. More images abound along the length of the prakaram.

“They depict stories of the gods, the gods themselves, and events from our epics,” he replies.

Through the main entrance to the courtyard I catch the lights in the pond outside, lights from the hills surrounding the tank reflecting in the water. And as if on cue the priest says, “The pond is a sight to watch during the ‘teppotsava’ when the deity is paraded in the boats you saw anchored in the pond as you entered the temple. The whole place lights up. Large numbers of people gather at the time. The ‘teppotsava’ takes place in Kartik Masa.”

Kartik Masa is usually the eighth lunar month of the Hindu calendar. Depending on the beginning of the year it can vary from being the first month as with the Gujarathis or the seventh month as in the Bangla calendar.

The elderly priest, Shivram Bhat, is from Vitla near Mangalore in Dakshina Kannada having come to the Omkareshwara temple in 1976 to take up priestly duties at the temple. The younger priest, Gopalkrishna Bhat, is from Puttur. He was formerly with the Kukke Subramanya temple before he coming here. The Kukke Subramanya temple is 105 kms. from Mangalore.

The elder of the priests looks in my direction and says in Kannada, “Brahmandra antey kanathdalla.” (You look to be a brahmin).

I smile before replying, “Yes.”

“Are you Haveega,” he asks me. Havyaka (or Haveega) is a sub-sect of brahmins professing the Advaita philosophy of Shankaracharya, and are mostly to be found in Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada. Kodagu borders Dakshin Kannada.

“No, not a Havyaka. I’m a Vaishnava,” I reply before clarifying further, “a Madhva.” Madhvas are a brahmin sub-sect who profess to the school of Hindu philosophy known as Dvaita. It was originally propounded by Madhvacharya in the 13th Century.

The priest then points to royal inscriptions for me to read. “They’re written in halle Kannada (Old Kannada),” he says.

I nod and look up at the inscriptions before admitting, “I cannot read the script.” The devotional song playing on the tape soothes me even as it drowns his voice when the pitch rises in praise of the lord. Then we walk up to a window a few steps to my right. He pauses in front of it and points to the bars in the window before placing his finger on what appears to be a cut in one of the bars. “This is the King’s seal,” he explains.

I strain my eyes in trying to make sense of the royal seal on the window bar. It is a tiny seal etched in metal. The bars of the window are made of Panchaloha, an alloy of five metals (gold, silver, brass, copper, and iron). Pancha is five in Indian, and Panchaloha has a sacred significance, used in the construction of temple icons.

I can barely make out the royal seal in the dim light as I bend to take a picture. The temple bell sounds again like it has in the time I’ve been here. More devotees make their way in to pay obeisance to the deity, each with a wish and prayer on the lips, a cycle that has no end, and nor a beginning – only a present.

Note: This is Part Four of my Coorg Diaries. Read Part I, Part II, and Part III posted earlier. This is Part Four of my Coorg Diaries .This is Part Four of my Coorg Diaries .

Found you thru a comment you left on Ginny blog. And I am glad I did. Exhaustive is the word I'd like to use to describe what I have read this past hour. There are many more posts here that demand my attention and I will be returning soon. Thanks, Anil.Priya

There are many reasons why one would go to Coorg. It would be a pity to come back without knowing the things that made Coorg what it is. While I would have just looked at the district's natural beauty, you have dug deep to give us a wonderful view of Coorg.

That said, I should add that I enjoyed reading this post.

Especially the second half of the post. It was like a trip back in time. It would be great if you more to add about this wonderful part of India.

Anil, What can I say? You outdo yourself with each and every post! I will read and re-read this many times, I know! This is so historically and culturally interesting to me and others! You are a treasure and I look forward to your fabulous posts each time you write! Thanks for opening my eyes and soul to so many different parts of life!

Coffee Messiah: Thank you. As for coffee beans I had posted one earlier in my Coorg Diaries, titled Coffee With Coorg.

India is a great place to travel if planned well in advance how. It can be a challenge as well, more so to Western tourists because many things work 'differently' here :)

There's lot of beauty not merely in terms of nature, wildlife and the like but more from a cultural and tradition point of view. The way customs are connected to nature as in seasons, animals, birds, rivers, trees, ponds mountains makes it vibrant, lively. There's an element of anthropology to it as well. Of course all of this will matter only if one enjoys exploring meaning as in 'one's place in the world'.

This is reflected a lot in ancient temple architecture.

Looking inward against the context of nature invariably brings a certain philosophy into the experience.

There's poverty as well. Since tourists most likely gather at touristy places, sensing opportunity beggars and vendors will gather there as well. Truth is it's their necessity but it can be overbearing for the tourist.

In addition to the touristy places, if you were to explore India away from these places then you'll see its earthy nature.

Megha Punater: Thanks, I'm glad to be able to communicate an experience as opposed to mere facts.

Coorg is very beautiful, though there's always a danger of being overrun by tourist infrastructure not as in capacity but as in choice of place to put up the 'capacity' the way it happened along Goa's coastline.

You must visit Coorg in the winter.

Slogan Murugan: Thank you. Yes, I do have more to add about coorg, and I should be taking it up in Part V of my Coorg Diaries.

Carletta: Thank you. Reflecting in the sky reflected in the water :)

Catherine: Thank you. India is as much a study of contrasts as it is a study of contexts :)

Judy: Thank you. It's be a pleasure to have you read the other parts of my Coorg Diaries.

Srinedhi Hande: I agree the post is long, it might not have been as long if it was only about facts as in an encyclopedia entry. But it was the experience of the place I wanted to convey.

The nature of the Internet has a role to play as well having spawned an 'attention deficiency', chipping away at our inclination to hold our attention even for as little as 10-15 mins at a time even though we have far more time at our disposal hopping from site to site. Moreover, when surfing there cannot be any reading.

It is changing the way a section of us read, and in turn making us seek information as opposed to experience. We need to do rethink on our reading habits to see what the reality check might throw up.

Anonymous: Thank you. It's a function of the reader's interest in the nature of traveling as well, as in some readers look for information about a place as in a Fact File, others will look to see it from the traveler's point of view as in the experience. And reader interests differ, it's only natural.

Man In Painting: Thank you. Sure, I will.

R. Sherman: It's a pleasure, thank you. Do read the rest when you have the time. I'm sure India will have a lot to offer in terms of viewing experience when you do visit it.

Bobbie: Thank you :) The history is fascinating no doubt. Actually the names can be challenge to us Indians as well, more so if we belong to a different part of the country :)

Kelly: Thanks. It's very encouraging to read your comment. It's encouraging as well to learn of your interest in the historical and cultural traditions of India. It's indeed a pleasure to have you read my India posts, and motivating as well. Thank you.

Amil,I truly enjoyed reading this post, like so many others before! I learned a lot, once again. Thank you for taking the time to research and write it, it must cost you a not inconsiderate amount of time. Your prose is captivating, no matter what you write about!All the photos are interesting, the one with the archway is especially striking, what with the seemingly blue walls against the lit area beyond the it.

to tell you the truth i haven gone through the entire article yet. but the photos are just so good that i cant help myself from commenting:) the aarthi plate especially was really good. i wonder how u photographers capture such insignificant things so beautifully.

Wow, I love your blog. one part history, one part peek into your life. I love India & have wanted to visit there after working for Indian drs who love to tell tales of their home lands.Thank you for the peek in.

Anil, I wish life was unhurried as it was a few years ago. May be it was a choice. Is Coorg as sleepy as back home 15 years ago?Nevertheless, your stories better be unhurried to make up a bit for not having time to listen to them in person.

Anil,Thanks for taking me on this lovely journey with you. You write with such eloquence. I was reminded of the Palaces of Deeg (have you been?) with the fountains you saw spraying colorful water. I wrote about this past March on my blog.

If you are particularly fond of temples in devotion to Lord Shiva, I'm sure you've probably visited the Temples of Eklingi? What a special place that is with it's 108temples.

I have many more temples in India to visit and now I am very interested in visiting Omkareshwara!

Goan: It's a choice one makes, driven by aspirations one harbours, for, I believe there's still that opportunity to partake of the unhurried if only we would let ourselves.

Coorg seems quiet away from the tourist spots, it helps it's spread over a hilly terrain.

Shireena: Thank you. It's a pleasure knowing how you felt reading the account.

Yes, I've visited Deeg, a short distance from Bharatpur. The palace was worth a dekho for sure. When we visited the palace the fountain was closed. I believe they operate it on a certain day, and were explained of its operation by one of the guides there. Quite elaborate I must say.

Eileen: Thank you. Lots of rice fields in Goa though the number has reduced over the years, and estuaries as well, attracting egrets and herons aplenty.

About Me

At the turn of the century I returned to Bombay from Goa, not an easy decision to make. A software company let me in, then another, then yet another. Time ran past. This time around I was wise enough not to give chase. So occasionally I take my camera along, searching for corners, finding them where none exist. And some of them are painted blue.